So yesterday I ended up riding home from Central Station (Sydney) to the inner west, slightly tired after the previous day's morning group ride and afternoon race (not on bikes, but followed by wine and pizza as recovery fuel) when I ended up at thd lights with four young blokes; one on an MTB with what looked like four-spoke wheels (?), one on a quick-looking flat bar roadie, one on an alloy roadie and one a very nice ti roadie with very nice dimpled carbon deep dish wheels of a brand I've not seen before.

The pack was clearly up for some SCR racing, so since I'm planning to do my first crit for a year on Tuesday I thought I may as well see what happened. Hung back early on, followed Mr Ti up the Anzac Bridge ramp as the early runners sagged and dropped off, and then followed at a reasonable distance (out of his draft) until we came past the tram stop at the bottom of Lilyfield Hill, then hit the accelerator and rolled past pretty quickly - 28mm low-pressure tyres, pannier and racks, CX bike and 49 year old legs 'n all.

It IS nice to get back to a normal group ride and SCR racing after a season spent doing things like the Masters states, CX nats support event and RAW track, where you end up feeling dog slow in comparison with the champs.

It's still mystifying to see what happens on the commute, though. The road-bike riding guy who was passed going up the bridge must have made a big effort and got back on when we were rolling DOWN the bridge.....gee, speeding downhill amongst peds proves a lot, doesn't it. Working hard on the uphill sections of Anzac is one thing, speeding downhill is just idiotic.

Also interesting to get snaked at the lights by Mr Ti. Why do people who you have just passed insist on weaving around back in front of you at the lights? And if they must do it, they should try to make sure they can actually clip in properly when they take off, or else they will simply get passed again as they flail their feet around.

Had a bit of fun on the Lilyfield/ANZAC Bridge run this morning. I was chasing down the odd commuter along the top of Lilyfield Rd when I spied a guy up the road moving along at a reasonable pace. I picked up my pace and slowly reeled him in on the downhill finally catching his wheel on the overpass on Victoria Rd. Once we got off the overpass the pace lifted considerably on the downhill run onto the bridge climb . We both went for the gas as soon as we hit the bridge proper. Turns out I'm a better climber than he is

Riding home after a hard training session at recovery pace a dude goes past on a flat bar roadie with flat pedals. I smiled thinking he's probably told his mates how hes blown off a guy in full kit with really expensive shoe on

mikesbytes wrote:Riding home after a hard training session at recovery pace a dude goes past on a flat bar roadie with flat pedals. I smiled thinking he's probably told his mates how hes blown off a guy in full kit with really expensive shoe on

You're in luck - I'm in Brisbane

Although to be fair your recovery ride is probably still to fast for me.....

Passed a guy on a fixie wearing a lime green, Ken Donne, 80’s jersey. He trailed off up into North Sydney then picked me up at a set of lights. There was a decent tail wind and he had ‘Strava fever.’ He wanted this segment.

He jumped me at the lights, full standing sprint into the 6% hill. He put 20m into me easy. Mid hill he sits and grinds. Stands, sits, stands, sits. Struggling now, I am edging up to him. Then, disaster!His lunch box falls out of his yellow back pack. Crisis! Half-eaten meat-ball sauce all over the road. Disaster! He is only half-way through the segment. He knows he has to turn back. If someone were to run over his lunchbox, his wife would kill him. The urge for self-protection overwhelmed the urge for glory and he turned back.

18km into commute, spot another rider in front in baggies with backpack on geared roadbike with clipless. Me baggies, handlebar bag, singlespeed and cages.

Was slowly gaining on him, till we hit the very minor lumps, and then I am almost on him, through a kink and 400m @4%, I carry more speed through the kink and power away, staying seated, trying not to look like I am working hard.

A few kms later, get stuck at the set of lights for close to a minute, he catches up, next 4km or so I am infront, but it is traffic and crap roads/PSP with sandpit. Next 4km he is in front, I am off his wheel cruising, looks like he is working hard, well 30+ kph crosswind does that. Wondering if I will do my usually 6 minutes at VO2 max to finish session. When we tagged on behind a nice Kuota TT bike (AT) 32kph, my legs are feeling it from last night's race so happy getting a tow for a few km, then my legs start feeling good, so tell the guy on the Kuota nice bike (that was what I raced last night) and claim my turn on the front, didn't get my 6 minutes, worked a little hard just to hold 35-36kph for 5 minutes, before waving Kuota rider through, the other rider no where to be seen, got my last minute at 35kph before the bridge loomed and we got stuck behind slower traffic and then went seperate ways.

The creak meister is born again creak and crack free, see the cervelo thread. Took a bit of coaching though. The thumping mortgage is still ticking along much the same as yours I guess, in that bloody expensive city you live in Going to take more than a 4k bike to fix that

Of course I was referring to the S5 being the second mortgage, not an actual mortgage.

Other than the traffic, living in Sydney isn't too bad for costs if you bought property before 2001. Of course if you can work somewhere else and still be on good money, then I can see the advantage. Many don't have the option though.

I've been commuting at 6am this last week, so many riders out there. Had to share today's experience. Under Silverwater Bridge on the north side is pretty bad for people turning towards the city. Caught a bunch halfway along the line turning off the bridge, and they responded very well (props to the cycling club in the light blue kit, well managed the corner because they know they can't just carve in for that spot).

Anyways... got into the line and realised that they weren't going as fast as I wanted so I overtook 12 club riders at 38kmh and made it stick. EPIC FTW Yes, you can start the adulation now. I'm sure that counts for huge points on the official rules!

Yesterday afternoon riding into the stupid headwind that we had in Perth I rode down a guy going up a bridge, which was my only motivation when I was going down the bridge with the wind nearly stopping me dead on the descent to keep pedalling. Kept trying to go down gears. Tried to find another gear below my lowest a couple of times.

Then this morning I spy someone taking the shortcut towards work, wearing some weird looking wetsuit shirt thing. I didn't realise we were doing a triathlon this morning. I take the normal way and chase him down the whole way. Almost get him on the way up but just before I get him I had to turn off to another building. Very frustrating.

On wednesday, heading home.. I overtook some lad going a couple of km/h slower than me, thought nothing of it.. then around the bridge over Guildford road and east prd, I realized he had been wheel sucking for over a km! So I eased off just slightly. .he refused to pass or change his line. So I put the hammer down smashed it up a little hill around Mt lawley traino. New PB! awww yeaahhh http://app.strava.com/activities/37704093#609269900

I racked up my first loss for the year this morning through a combination of underestimating my opponent and over estimating what I had left in the tank after a session out at SOP this morning.

I picked up a few rabbits on the approach to the ANZAC Bridge and tacked onto a guy just before the bridge proper. Stepped on the gas when the opportunity presented itself and my most worthy opponent responded! Alright, methinks! I stepped on the gas a bit more and put a bit of a dent into him but was reeled in by the bottom of the bridge. Typically, I take a slightly longer (and safer) route around the point at Pyrmont and didn't expect my companion would follow, but follow he did.

Going up the rise, I put in an attack which got covered and responded to. By that stage the tank was empty and I had to let go. I did manage to claw back most of the deficit before Star City but had to admit defeat Can't complain too much as I managed to crack a KOM on one of the segments through Pyrmont

I'd be keen to have another crack with a fuller tank as I think there is a good match for CCR!

The West St climb. Young and lithe, he spins past me. I raise my cadence, but I knew it was incontinent. He was too beautiful, too classy for me.

A second opportunity presents, I figure he has gone for the segment and will drop the pace as he explodes over the summit. No. The tempo and rating increases, and I feel his presence drain away from me. Am I gay? He was a beautiful pedaller.

But in CCR if you can't win, you must be spiteful. Like a spurned lover. GreenEdge knicks and a BMC Jersey? Are you kidding? I looked way more Euro…

Back on the win list this morning over ANZAC Bridge. I caught the wheel of some guy decked out in what appeared to be a Aussie rowing outfit. Knowing that rowers tend to be rather strong on the bike, I played the waiting game. He knew I was there and put in an acceleration or two looking back each time to see if he'd cracked me.

We hit the bridge proper and he put in another small surge the tail end of which I put in my attack. There was some attempt to respond but I think the initial accelerations had taken their toll.

Not only was it a CCR victory but also a PB on the Strava segment and entry into the top 10, in addition to gaining back sledging rights over a mate of mine! Most satisfying!

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